Blast-furnace



(No Model.) v 2 SheetsSheet 1.

' P. L. WEIMER.

BLAST FURNAOE. No. 320,604. Papented June 23,1885.

J I I W I rim cry- 000 m WITNESSES I/VVE/VTOI? (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

P. L. WEIMER.

. BLAST FURNACE. No. 320,604. Patented June 23, 1885.

4 WITNESSES N, PETERS, Pholwbthwipher. Wuhinflun, DQ

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER L. WEIMER, OF LEBANON, PENNSYLVANIA.

BLAST-FURNACE.

QFECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 320,604, dated June 23,1885.

Application filed April 13, 1885. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PETER L. WEIMER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lebanon, in the county of Lebanon and State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Blast-Furnaces, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawings.

In the working of blast-furnaces it has been discovered that frequentchanges in the temperature of the interior of the furnace occur. Attimes and for days in succession the temperature will run exceedinglyhigh, while on other days it will be comparatively low. During periodswhen the furnace is working under high temperatures the destructiveaction of the heat upon the lining is very active, and if not modifiedby some process of cooling or refrigeration, produced by the applicationof a cooling medium to the external surface of the walls, the crucibleand boshes will soon be destroyed. On the contrary, when the furnace isworking under low temperatures the cooling of the walls should becorrespondingly reduced. to prevent an undue reduction of thetemperature of the furnace.

Hcretofore it has been the practice to apply cold water to the exteriorof the furnace-walls, as shown in Letters Patent granted to me 00- tober23, 1883, No. 287,204, and in which provision is made to regulate thequantity of water passed through the cooling-vessels to meet therequirements due to the changes of temperature under which the furnaceis working. This practice is attended with great expense in theconstruction of the devices used, and also requires a great quantity ofwater to keep up the cooling effect, at no small cost where the water isrequired to be raised by means of pumps. Furthermore, in the practicereferred to it is necessary for the operators to watch the working ofthe furnace closely, in order to enable them to regulate the supply ofwater in quantities to suit the requirements occasioned by the changesin the temperature of the walls. This practice is subject to a furtherobjection namely, theintense heat of the walls causes them to expand,and frequently produces cracks therein, and the expansion of the wallsis liable to fracture the plates of the metallic jacket containing thewater, which, leaking from the jackets, will k find its way through thecracks in the wall into the interior of the furnace, greatly to theinjury thereof.

Another practice has been to force air into a jacket surrounding thecrucible by means of an ordinary blower.

In both of the instances referred to the cooling medium is supplied bymechanical means, and has not come into direct contact with thebrick-work of the crucible and bosh.

The object of my invention is to provide a cooling or refrigeratingapparatus for blastfurnaces which will greatly reduce the cost ofconstruction, dispense with the machinery at present employed forsupplying the cooling medium, and automatically supply atmospheric airdirectly to the walls of the crucible and bosh in quantities varying asthe temperture of said walls increases and decreases.

A further object of my invention is to dispense'with the metallicbinders employed in forming the sides of the air-chambers, as shown inanother application of even date of filing, Serial No. 162,143, andinstead thereof extend the masonry of the stack at intervals around itscircumference to form the sides of a series of air-chambers.

\Vith these objects in View my invention consists in the constructionhereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

To enable others skilled in the art to which my invention pertains tomake and use the same, I will proceed to describe its construction.

Reference being had to the accompanying drawings which form part of thisspecification, Figure-1 represents a side view of a blastfurnaceembodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same. Fig. 3represents the contour of the sections composing the casing.

The walls A of the stack are formed with radial projections B, whichextend throughout the entire height of the furnace. Surrounding thestack is a sheetmetal jacket or casing, G, forming an annulus betweenthe outer surface of the wall A and the inner surface of the casing. Theannulus forms an airchamber, which is divided into separate compartmentsby the projecting portions B of the masonry, which may be distributed atany desired number of intervals around the circumference of the stack,according to the number of separate air-chambers to be formed. Theannulus extends from the bosh to the top of the furnace, and thatportion below the mantle E is provided with numerous perforationsarranged on different planes for the admission of air to the walls ofthe crucible and bosh, while the portion above the mantle, and extendingto the top of the furnace, serves as a chimney, which creates a draftthrough the perforation in the casing below the mantle and carries offthe air as it becomes heated in the chambers surrounding the stack.

WVhen the furnace is working under high temperatures, the heat conveyedthrough the walls of the crucible and bosh will act upon the aircontained in the chambers surrounding said walls, rarefying it rapidly,and cause a corresponding ingress of cool air to supply the place of theheated air passing up through the chambers or channels into the chimney,and maintain an even temperature of the walls, approximating to thetemperature of the passing air. It will be observed that air is admittedto the chambers at different points between the bosh and the mantle,thus keeping up a continual change in the air where its cooling effectis required.

When the temperature of the furnace changes from a high to a low degree,the amount of heat transmitted through the walls is correspondinglyreduced, and the air in the chambers, being less rapidly rarefied, thequantity of inflowing air will be diminished and the walls maintained atnearly the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere.

From the description of the operation of my device it will be apparentthat it is automatic in its action, varying the quantities of thecooling medium according to the slightest variations in the temperatureof the furnace, and requires no attention from the workmen engaged aboutthe furnace.

The casing is composed of sections, which may be detachably securedtogether by bolts throughout that portion belowthe mantle, as shown atD, which will facilitate their removal should any cause arise therefordurin the working of the furnace.

In the application hereinbefore referred to I have claimed, broadly, thecombination of an automatic cooling or refrigerating apparatus, intowhich the air is admitted at different points below the mantle, with thestack of a blast-furnace, and therefore limit my claim in thisapplication to the construction herein shown and described.

I am aware that in English Patent No. 1,959, of 1871, a furnace is shownwith double walls, the outer one having projections formed in themasonry, which are surrounded by a casing, and that stacks have beensurrounded by chambers to which air has been admitted through inletslocated at the bottom only. Such construction I do not, therefore,claim.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is 1. Ablast-furnace stack having projections formed in the masonryconstituting the walls of the stack, in combination with a metalliccasing provided with a series of air-inlets, arranged on differenthorizontal planes, and outlets, substantially as described.

2. A blast-furnace stack formed of a single wall of masonry, the innersurface of which is exposed to the heat of the furnace and the outersurface to constantly-changing currents of air, said outer surfacehaving projections formed in the masonry, in combination with a metalliccasing perforated, as shown, and adapted to supply air at differentpoints below the mantle in direct contact with the heated wall and inquantities varying as the temperature of the furnace rises and falls,substantially as described.

3. A blast-furnace stack having projections formed in the masonryconstituting the wall of the stack and extending to the top of thefurnace, in combination with ametallic casing composed of detachablesections perforated below the mantle, as shown, and imperforated abovethe mantle, substantially as described. 4. A blast-furnace stackcomposed of a single wall of masonry surrounded by a metallic casingforming an annulus between the stack and the casing, in combination withprojections formed in the masonry and separating the annulus into aseries of independent air chambers supplied with air through inletsarranged in different horizontal planes in the casing, whereby theascending column of heated air is augmented by supplies of cool air,substantially as described. In testimony whereof I affix my signature inpresence of two witnesses.

PETER L. \VEIMER.

Witnesses:

L. E. WVEIMER, W. MORRIS WEIDMAN.

